


Inside and Out

by wallbanger2008



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Apritello, Awkward Boners, Body Swap, F/M, First Kiss, Mind Swap, Mutual Pining, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, shared shower
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:21:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28672911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wallbanger2008/pseuds/wallbanger2008
Summary: After putting Raph and the kraang back into their correct bodies, something goes wrong during the fight and Donnie and April’s minds are swapped seconds before the machine is destroyed. Now they’re stuck in each other’s bodies until Donnie can do something about it. This won’t be awkward at all.Based on S2E21, Plan 10.
Relationships: Donatello/April O'Neil (TMNT)
Comments: 117
Kudos: 84





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s another high-concept let’s-force-these-two-to-be-together-until-they-get-together story! 
> 
> Apologies to Casey Jones—I love him but just found it easier to keep him out of the shenanigans, even though he’s the one who gets switched with April in the original episode.

They should have left by now. Raph was back in his proper body and the scene had devolved into another scrap with the kraang. Pink lights were flying everywhere and the neural switcher was spinning around out of control. 

He had no idea who did it or how it happened, but all of a sudden the air was filled with the whirring sound of the neural switcher coming back online and firing. Not. Good. 

When it happened it was quick—but not exactly painless. One minute Donnie was fighting off a kraang droid, then without warning, he felt the painful stab of electricity running along his nerves, seizing his body up, and erasing all thoughts except for one: _ow_. Next thing he knew, he was suddenly across the room. 

Had he gotten thrown? He glanced about, trying to get his bearings. Within the next five seconds, three things happened very quickly. He heard a panicked scream that sounded unsettlingly like his own voice. He tried to locate its source, but he was distracted by a kraang droid bearing down on him. Odd—this droid seemed taller than normal. And that’s when he looked down and realized the thing he was holding in his hand wasn’t his staff—it was a folded up familiar-looking tessen. In his very small, very pink, very five-fingered hand. 

Droid temporarily forgotten, Donnie looked down to see he was now wearing an all too well-known yellow shirt. He held his new hands up in front of him and flexed the fingers before letting out his own baffled yelp in a voice he could identify in his sleep: April’s. 

He heard something whizz through the air and looked back at the advancing droid just in time to see it collapse with a shuriken embedded in its head. 

“Stay sharp there, Ape,” Raph chided him as he ran by, oblivious to what had just happened. 

Donnie turned and looked wildly around the room. He had a feeling that if he was somehow standing here, in April’s body of all fantastical things, that must mean… And yep, there, across the room, his eyes landed on the strangest sight. He could see himself, cowering against a wall and clutching his staff as if he were a child with a teddy bear. His eyes were wide with fear. 

“April!” He screamed in a voice that was much higher than what he was used to. He caught Raph giving him a weird look, but more importantly, he saw his own eyes snap into focus and look toward him. 

“Donnie!?” his own voice screamed back. 

He had to get to her. As freaked out as he was right now, she had to be ten times worse. Going from human to a giant mutant _must_ be far worse. She must be disgusted right now. He began to run, stumbling and weaving a little as he got used to having a new, lower center of gravity. He got halfway to her when the lights flickered and there was a loud cracking noise. His heart sank as he turned to see Leo at the command center, one katana embedded in the machine that had done this to them. 

“Leo, no!” he yelled and switched course, running toward his brother. 

“It’s fine, April,” Leo called to him. “Raph already got switched back.” He raised his head and yelled in a louder voice, “We’re done here, let’s move!” 

“Leo, no, you don’t understand,” Donnie tried telling him, putting one of April’s tiny hands on his brother’s arm. “We—”

“Tell me later. We have to go, April,” Leo was already running off. 

Donnie swung around and found April attempting to run in his body. She looked uncoordinated and lumbering and he cringed. He sprinted in her direction, finally meeting up with her as they passed through the doorway of the room that held the machine and into the hall. 

“April,” he gasped as he ran. “We’re gonna fix this. I swear.” 

“Yeah, no shit, D.” It was insanely weird to hear her speaking to him with his own voice. “Ugh, I keep tripping over your big feet! And I can’t get thith thing,” she waved his staff around, “back in plathe.”

“Here, give it to me.” He held out his hand and she passed it over. It was odd, normally his staffs felt as familiar to him as any part of his own body. But in April’s smaller, extra-fingered hands it felt off—bigger and heavier than what he was used to. He supposed it made sense, but still. He slowed down a little until he was behind April, then reached up and slid the staff into its holster on her shell. 

“Thankth,” she panted. She nodded toward where the rest of the guys were running up ahead of them. “I don’t think they know yet. About what happened to uth.” She gestured back and forth between them. 

He stared at her for a second, wondering why she was suddenly speaking with a lisp before realizing she wasn’t used to the gap in his teeth. “They’ll figure it out soon enough,” he muttered.

He watched April run and as serious as the situation was, he was finding it hard not to laugh as she stumbled down the hall, clearly having a hard time acclimating to her new body. 

Not that he was doing much better. April was by no means out of shape, but she also didn’t spend five hours a day training like he normally did. Donnie could feel himself getting winded when normally this run would barely affect him. 

And there was something else. He was feeling a strange tugging sensation on his chest with each step. He looked down and noticed his breasts were bouncing along with him as he ran. 

“Donnie!” 

He whipped his head toward April and blushed. 

“Thtop thtaring at my boobth!” She looked pissed. 

“Sorry! But… geez are they always this annoying when you run?” 

He watched his own eyes roll behind his mask. “No, but, ugh, I didn’t wear a th-sssports bra today. Of all days.”

He was suddenly aware of the thin straps digging slightly into his shoulders as he ran and he had an idea. “Uh, April? I swear I’m not trying to get fresh here, but maybe I could…” he brought his hands up, each palm in front of a breast, telegraphing that he was about to cup them. “Just to, you know, hold them in place?” 

“NO!” April looked at him in a way that made him shrink. Ugh, she probably thought he was an epic perv. 

But he was being truthful. His adrenaline wasn’t letting him think about how awesome it would be to finally get to feel April’s boobs. At least not too much. 

“It’s just for support!” he said frantically. 

“Fine! If you must, just… do thith,” she groaned and crossed her arms across her plastron. 

Donnie copied her, anchoring his breasts to him under his folded arms. It helped, although he was still very conscious of the mounds of flesh under his arms. 

They turned a corner and found the rest of the gang waiting for them at the entrance to the turtle sub. 

“About time!” Raph grumbled, but his face turned from annoyed to puzzled as he watched the two of them running toward him, April still tripping over herself and Donnie hugging his chest. 

“April? Donnie? Are guys ok?” Leo asked, scrutinizing them both. 

“No!” They both spoke at once. 

Donnie rushed forward and opened the door to the sub. “We got switched,” he explained, glancing back at everyone’s puzzled faces. “Just… get in. We’ll figure it out when we’re out of here.” 

“April?” Mikey said slowly as he looked at him. It was strange not to have to look down at his younger brother. 

“No, I’m Donnie,” he stressed. “Ugh, come on, let’s just get out of here.” 

* * *

Several hours later back at the lair, everyone was caught up, including Splinter, who’d for once seemed at a temporary loss for words. There had been a flurry of questions, starting with more technical queries on how this happened and what they needed to do to fix it, then moving on to more personal questions. 

Donnie had felt like he was part of a side show. He guessed he couldn’t blame everyone for being curious. He certainly would be if he were in their shoes. But while he didn’t mind sharing about how weird it was to suddenly be a foot shorter than normal or to have two extra fingers on each hand, he’d been mortified by Mikey’s sudden fascination with his breasts and lack of tail. He’d also learned something else about April’s body: It hurt a little to slap Mikey across the face when his brother had gotten a little bold and poked him in the side. April’s hands weren’t as resilient as his own. 

Fortunately, Splinter had stepped in and redirected the conversation back toward action steps. They’d agreed that another full-fledged battle in the technodrome would not be ideal, and that the best way forward would be a stealth mission back to the site to steal any tech they could get that might facilitate Donnie getting him and April back to normal. 

That would have to wait until tomorrow though. It was getting late and everyone was tired out from today’s fight. Especially Donnie. Being in April’s body gave him newfound appreciation for his normal body and its strength and stamina. And lack of breasts. He’d technically only been a woman for less than four hours and he’d already come to the firm conclusion that while he liked _looking_ at breasts, he did not particularly enjoy _having_ them. 

He and April had locked themselves in his lab to have a personal summit with the goal of trying to figure out how they were going to manage this. Even if they succeeded in getting the tech they needed from the technodrome tomorrow, there was no guarantee Donnie would be able to get it working again without some significant effort. They needed to figure out where they stood until then. At least with all this talking April had finally figured out how so speak without a lisp.

“Ok, at some point tomorrow I, or you, or both of us are going to have to go to my place to get some clothes,” she was saying. They were in easy agreement that they’d both stay in the lair until everything was sorted out. “Until then, you’ll just have to sleep in the clothes I’m, uh, you’re wearing. Once we get a change, I’ll help you dress so that you can keep your eyes shut.”

Donnie nodded. For the fiftieth time, he thought about how this was probably harder on her than it was on him. He was the one who usually walked around mostly naked, so he didn’t have to worry about his modesty. She was the one trapped in the body of a… yeah. He was determined to make this as easy for her as he could. “April, whatever you need. I promise I’ll do everything I can to respect you here.” 

“I know. And I appreciate it. Just… you know, try not to touch anything you shouldn’t. You know what I mean.” 

Donnie nodded again, then froze, realizing he’d been playing with his hair, well, her hair technically, from where it had been falling out of her ponytail. “Uh, sorry,” he muttered, dropping the hair. _Shit_. He needed to be more mindful if he was going to get out of this without April hating him. 

But April shook her head. “No, D, that’s… that’s not what I meant. You can touch my hair.” She smiled gently. 

“Oh, ok.” Seriously. It was moments like these he wondered what he’d done to deserve having someone like April in his life. So understanding. 

“I guess a good rule of thumb is, if it’s a body part I would be ok with you touching normally, then you’re fine,” she nodded decisively. 

Donnie tried to remember if he’d ever really touched April’s hair before, at least more than a casual swipe or ruffle. He’d definitely never sat and smoothed his hands through it, though he’d often longed to. Now he knew it was just as soft as he’d always imagined it. He reached up tentatively and touched her hair again. “It’s a… your hair is really soft,” he said with an awkward laugh that sounded strange coming out of April’s mouth. 

“Thanks,” she said, looking down at him. “It’s looked better though.” She reached out for a second, then pulled her hands back. “Do you want me to fix it for you?” 

“Oh, uh, if you prefer,” Donnie shrugged, letting go of the hair again. It wasn’t bothering him, but if April preferred seeing her hair a certain way, well, who was he to say otherwise? 

April clasped her hands. “No… I guess it’s your preference now.” 

He could tell she was trying to hold back. Maybe this was her way of trying to appear like she was cool with this. As if she possibly could be. He needed to put her at ease. “It’s fine. You can fix it.” He pulled the elastic out of her hair and held it out to her.

She reached out and took it, then stared at it in her large palm before handing it back to him. “I think you might be more dexterous than I am right now,” she said quietly. “And you should probably learn to do it yourself anyway.”

“Ok,” he said tentatively, then did his best to gather his hair and pull it into some semblance of a ponytail. April always made it look so easy, but it was tough to get all the hair to stay in one place as he wrapped the elastic around it. When he was done, he looked up at April. “How’s that?”

She raised a brow and he got the distinct impression that he hadn’t done a bang up job. “It’s uh, it’s fine. No big deal.”

He couldn’t help himself. “What? I don’t look pretty?” 

April let out a burst of laughter. “So, so pretty Donnie!” she said in an overly sweet voice. “Wait, is that vain of me to say?” 

He shrugged, just happy the mood was lightened. “Heck if I know.” This caused both of them to laugh again. As he chuckled, he noticed something new going on with April’s body. A growing pressure that seemed to emanate from between her legs. 

He stopped laughing. _Oh crud_. He hadn’t thought about bathroom stuff. His mood instantly plummeted. Damn, just when he thought they’d gotten to a good place on this. Well, he had to say something. Obviously whatever April’s body was trying to tell him wouldn’t hold forever. 

“Uh, April?” His gut curled with dread. 

“Yeah?” 

“I think I have to go to the bathroom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? It’s not like their renal and digestive systems are just gonna conveniently stop because someone else is driving the ship. 
> 
> Next Chapter: We get April’s POV and Donnie learns something new about going to the bathroom as a girl. I promise it’s not gonna get gross. Just funny.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s time to hear April’s side of things. She and Donnie continue working out how they’re going to handle this whole situation as they discover the pros and cons of each other’s bodies.

It took a moment for April to get her bearings when she woke up the next morning. For a second before opening her eyes, she wondered why she felt so freaking hot. Was she getting sick? 

She opened her eyes, kicked off her covers and felt instantly better as the cool air washed over her green skin. And then it hit her. She was still in Donnie’s body. April’s self-regulating body loved being snuggled up under multiple comforters all night, but Donnie’s cold-blooded body had overheated. A good thing to know. She glanced down at her new body and sighed. At least he didn’t seem to get morning wood. 

Just thinking of that potential embarrassing situation brought on memories of last night’s bathroom trip. It had been an inevitable exercise in mortification as she’d talked Donnie through using the bathroom as a human female—and without looking down. He wasn’t a complete idiot, of course. He knew he was supposed to sit down and let it happen. What he didn’t know was that he was supposed to wipe afterward. 

_“Every time?” he’d asked._

_“Yep.”_

_“What if it’s a clean go?”_

_“A what?”_

_“What if there’s no urine on your, uh, you know?”_

_She’d stared at him. She had insisted on coming in the stall with him, arguing that it was her body after all, and he wouldn’t be doing or displaying anything she wasn’t already familiar with._

_“Just… always wipe. Ok? And if or when it’s not urine—“_

_“Front to back, I know.”_

Aaaand now she could officially say that Donnie had touched her undercarriage, even if it was through a few thin layers of toilet paper. He was probably still able to get the lay of the land. Just thinking about it made her want to crawl back under those hot covers. But that wouldn’t get her body back, so she resolved herself to getting up. She made her way around the spare room and put on Donnie’s usual attire—all except the wrappings. She wasn’t sure how he liked them, so she went without and made a note to ask him or one of the guys to help later. 

After a quick trip to the bathroom—last night’s horror fest had also included an enlightening tutorial on cloacas and how they worked because yay, equal opportunity embarrassment—she found her way to the kitchen, sat down with a bowl of cereal and began navigating her way through using a spoon with Donnie’s fingers.

A few minutes later, he ambled in.

“Morning,” he called as he made his way to the coffee maker. 

April stared. He’d clearly had another go at putting his hair in a ponytail, and it wasn’t much better than last night’s; bumps of hair stuck out at all angles and he’d completely missed a hank of hair in the back. But it wasn’t just that.

“You make me walk like a dude,” she said slowly as she watched her body stalking around the kitchen. 

Donnie stopped and looked at her. “Sorry?” 

She shook her head, knowing she was being ridiculous. She knew Donnie had been trying hard to be delicate and respectful throughout this situation, and really who cared if her body looked funny while he inhabited it? 

“No, I’m sorry. It’s nothing. Just an observation,” she smiled. “How’d you sleep?” 

Donnie sat down next to her with his coffee. “Eh, just ok. Uh, do you usually sleep in a bra?” 

She winced. Yeah, the idea of spending the night in a regular bra didn’t sound like fun. But she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea of Donnie walking around braless, so. She’d have to grab some sports bras at home for him. 

“No, I don’t. Sorry, I’m sure that wasn’t comfy,” she consoled him. 

“I never knew wearing one could be so uncomfortable. Is it supposed to be?”

April bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. “Ehhhh I’ve heard rumors there are comfortable ones out there. The quest to actually find one is ongoing.”

“Hmmph. How’d you sleep?” 

“Pretty well, actually,” she said. “Although I didn’t realize that a lot of blankets would make you so hot.”

He nodded sagely. “Yeah, sorry, probably should have warned you about that. Cold blooded, you know.”

“It was no biggie though,” April continued. “I forgot how quiet it gets down here at night. No cars going by or sirens. I slept like the dead.” 

Donnie pursed his lips, then frowned. “Speaking of silence,” he said. “It’s pretty quiet down here right now. Does that seem weird to you?” 

April shrugged. It had been a long time since she’d last spent the night in the lair, so the turtles’ early morning routine wasn’t familiar to her. 

“Mikey and Leo are usually up by now,” Donnie mused, looking at the clock on the wall. “And Mikey usually doesn’t leave the kitchen until all of us have eaten breakfast.” 

“I haven’t seen any of them,” April said. She couldn’t glean how concerned Donnie might be about this. Was it a big deal? 

Apparently it was enough of a concern that it warranted an investigation. Donnie grabbed his coffee and left the kitchen. She listened as he walked around the lair, checking rooms and calling out for his brothers. After a minute he returned, looking troubled. 

“No one’s here. Splinter’s meditating in the dojo, but other than that, the lair’s empty,” he said. 

Almost on cue, there was a loud banging across the lair and the sound of Raph cursing. 

April and Donnie ran out of the kitchen and instantly spotted Raph, Leo, and Mikey emerging from one of the tunnels. Mikey’s arms were full of boxes and Leo and Raph were carrying something large between them. As they got closer, April recognized it as the kraang neural switcher.

“You guys went back without us?” Donnie said, sounding wounded as he took a box off of Mikey’s teetering pile. 

Leo and Raph exchanged a guilty look. “Ah, here’s the thing guys,” Leo said. “Neither of you is in any shape to fight right now, and Splinter gave the command that the three of us should just go alone.”

“It was supposed to be a stealth mission,” Donnie said, grunting under the weight of the box as they made their way to the lab. April grabbed the box out of his hands and he shot her an annoyed look. She shrugged. It wasn’t her fault she was the stronger one now.

“And yet, how many times do we still wind up having to fight on our supposed stealth missions?” Raph snarked. 

“I voted to let you guys come,” Mikey volunteered. 

“You just wanted someone else to help power the sub,” Leo said. “It was the right call. We wound up having to fight our way out and you two…” he gestured toward Donnie and April. “You guys looked like you were struggling even to run yesterday.” 

Donnie opened his mouth to argue, but April silenced him with a hand on his shoulder. “I think what matters is that we got what we needed and you guys got back safe,” she stressed. “It’s done, so let’s all move on.”

“Thank you, Don-uh, April,” Leo said. 

The two of them watched as the other three left the lab, muttering about getting something to eat and possibly some sleep. 

April watched as Donnie began opening the boxes and setting parts out on the table. He lifted a particularly jagged piece of machinery, then winced. “Ow!” 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Hmm? Oh, it’s nothing. I just pricked my finger,” he held his hand out to show her. “Your skin isn’t as thick as mine. Guess I’m still getting used to that.” 

She sat down across from him and watched him work. Thin skin. Less muscle mass. Having to deal with wrangling a new set of boobs. She’d been so concerned about Donnie being tempted with unlimited access to her body that she’d never considered he might not like inhabiting it. She felt pretty short sighted. Of course he’d miss his body. It was his. 

“I guess being a human isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, huh,” she said. 

He paused. “It’s an adjustment.”

“Sorry.”

“For what?” He cocked his head, puzzled. 

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Just the fact that my body can't really measure up. It’s weaker. I get hurt more easily. It’s just… not as useful, I guess, as yours.” 

Donnie frowned. “April,” he said softly. “You have a great body. It’s, heh, one of my favorite bodies, as I’m sure you’re aware.” He smiled and blushed. “I’ve seen you do amazing things with this body. It’s just not _my_ body, you know?” 

She smiled back. “I get it.” 

“If anything I should be the one apologizing,” he went on. “You’re the one trapped in the body of a, a…” 

“A kickass ninja?” She had a suspicion where he might be heading with this and wanted to nip it in the bud. 

“I was going to say a mutant with body parts you aren’t used to having or up until very recently had no knowledge of.”

She reached out and grasped his hand with hers, ignoring how weird it felt to hold her own hand. “Yeah, like you said, it’s an adjustment. But I like being tall,” she paused as he snorted. “And it’s kinda cool to be super strong. That box felt like it weighed nothing.

“Speaking of,” she continued. “I was thinking when you’re done sorting all this stuff out, we could sneak up to my place and grab some of my clothes for you. That way you can change into something clean. And maybe a little more comfortable.”

“I’m actually pretty much done,” Donnie said, letting go her hand to clear the empty boxes away. “I can get started trying to reassemble this when we get back.”

April perked up. “Awesome. Ready, then?” 

“Yeah, just let me use the bathroom first. You have a tiny bladder.” 

* * *

After carefully picking their way across the rooftops in broad daylight, April and Donnie arrived at her apartment. Before leaving, April had texted her father to let him know something was up with the turtles and she’d be staying in the lair for the next few days. Kirby wasn’t thrilled, but he was slowly coming to grips with his daughter’s lifestyle and the challenges it brought with it. 

He was at work now, and the apartment was empty. _Thank goodness_ , April thought as she eased her now large frame in through the window. This was one thing she’d rather not have to explain to her dad. 

Donnie sat on her bed and began idly flipping through her biology textbook while she pulled out a duffel bag and began to pick out a few outfits she thought he might feel comfortable in. She assumed it must feel weird to suddenly be encased in layers of clothing after being used to wearing nothing. Like putting on real shoes after spending the summer wearing flip flops. The outfits she chose were loose-fitting and comfy. She threw a pair of sweats and a t-shirt on the bed for Donnie to change into. 

Next, she opened the top drawer of her dresser and pulled out a few sports bras before surreptitiously looking back over her shoulder at Donnie. Hmmm. Undies. The mischievous side of her was goading her to pack the frilliest, sexiest panties she owned just to see if she could get a rise out of him. 

She picked up a pair of lilac boy shorts, but paused as she stared at her hands—Donnie’s hands—holding the lacy fabric. There was something about the juxtaposition of his large, powerful hands with those long, thick fingers on top of the delicate lace that made her heart beat speed up. She absently rubbed a finger over the lace, lost for a moment in thoughts of just what those fingers could potentially do, when Donnie’s voice behind her made her jump. 

“This textbook is outdated,” he commented, half to himself. April collected herself and shoved the lacy panties back in her drawer and plucked out several plain cotton undies in various colors instead.

“Budget cutbacks,” she said quickly, turning around. “Whattarya gonna do?” She walked briskly over to the duffel bag and shoved the bras and undies in, saving one of each for Donnie to change into. _I should probably also grab some toiletries for him. I don't think they have shampoo in the lair,_ she thought. That led her to another notion. Donnie showering her naked body. Yeah… not sure she was ready to cross that bridge yet. 

“Hey Don…” 

“Yeah?”

“I know this wasn’t on the docket for what we were going to do today,” she said nervously. “But you should probably take a shower before changing into any clean clothes.”

She watched as Donnie’s eyes grew wide and his eyebrows disappeared under his bangs. “Uh, yeah, yeah, I suppose that makes sense,” he gulped audibly. “Are, are you ok with that though?”

“Well, I was thinking that we could do it together,” she explained. 

“Together?” he squeaked. 

“I mean, I’d help. You know, so you don’t have to touch,” April said quickly. “And I’d want you to keep your eyes shut.”

Donnie was nodding uneasily. “Uh, yeah, of course. Anything you want.” 

She was beginning to feel awkward. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him. But this was her naked body they were talking about. The only man who’d seen her naked after the age of six was her doctor. The idea of Donnie seeing her… it wasn’t bad, necessarily. Actually, it was kind of exciting. But she wasn’t ready for that. And even if she were, this was far from the ideal circumstance. 

“Ok,” she breathed. “We should probably do it back in the lair. Our shower here… it’s too small to fit both of us.”

“Right. Right,” Donnie was still nodding. “So, we’ll just both go in together and I’ll keep my eyes shut and you just wash me?”

“Yeah… and then, uh, you can tell me how to wash your body. If that’s ok.” She hoped she wasn’t asking too much. What if Donnie wanted to wash his body? What if there was a specific procedure to washing his tail or something that he preferred to do himself? He’d have to open his eyes for that. And then he’d see… 

“That’s fine,” he said, cutting off her thoughts 

“Ok then,” she said, trying to sound braver than she felt. “Shower buddies?”

“Shower buddies.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: It’s shower time and Donnie discovers the luxury of having someone else wash your hair for you. 
> 
> Plus! Raph says something incredibly rude and April learns Donnie’s slapping hand is much stronger than hers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> April and Donnie take a shower together, but it’s only a fraction as sexy as it usually is in Don’s fantasies. Not that that keeps him from enjoying it.

In the time since he’d known her, Donnie had entertained plenty of fantasies involving him and April. Many involved the two of them being naked. And some of them even included the two of them in a shower together. But none of them involved the two of them inhabiting each other’s bodies. 

And yet, here he was. He watched as April stripped off her, or rather his, gear and set it aside before turning on the water and letting it warm up while he pulled off his socks and boots. He felt his heart begin to race as she turned back toward him. 

He’d been surprised when April had suggested he take a shower. At least so soon. Sure, he was starting to smell a little ripe, but he’d thought April would be a little more hesitant about letting him strip down. She’d made him sleep in her clothes after all. 

He was still a little unsure what to think of it all. April’s body would be naked in the same room as him—definitely a good thing—but he wouldn’t be seeing it or touching it. He’d be… experiencing it? And April would be touching him… but with his own hands. It was hard to think about.

April was now approaching him, apparently satisfied with the water temperature. 

“Ok, let’s get you out of those clothes,” she said, gently pulling the headband and elastic from his hair. “Close those eyes and I’ll help you strip.” 

His heart continued to pound as he obediently shut his eyes, promising himself that he would not open them, no matter how tempting it might be. It didn’t take a genius to understand this was a major exercise in trust and cheating even a little might blow any microscopic chance he might ever have with April. 

“All right, I’m going to take off your shirts,” he heard her say once his eyes were shut. He nodded and a second later he felt large hands pulling at the hems of his shirts, tugging them both up at once. 

“And we’ll get you out of that bra,” she muttered next. He felt thick fingers scrabbling at his back, then a huff of impatience. 

“Everything ok back there?” he asked nervously. 

“I can’t… I’m still not used to your fingers,” April grunted. “I can’t work the… ah! There it is.”

He felt his bra loosen and breathed a sigh of relief as April slipped it off him. It felt so good to be out of it. 

“I know,” he heard her chuckle behind him. “Best feeling in the world.” Then her tone turned concerned. “Jeez, I never noticed the marks they leave behind.” He felt her hand running over his back, soothing him. It felt very nice, and he leaned backward a little into her touch. 

She rubbed him for a few more seconds before moving on. “Let’s get these bottoms off and then we’ll step in.” He felt her fumbling again, this time with his fly, before she yanked everything down and told him to step out of it all. This was it. He was officially naked in April’s body. April’s body was officially naked in the same room as his. Was it hot? He was still trying to decide how he felt as she guided him under the spray. 

She instructed him to get his hair wet first, then announced she would wash it for him. And dear god in heaven, he’d now have to add “getting your hair shampooed” to his ever growing list of things humans were lucky to have that he didn’t. He’d never imagined it could feel so good to have someone lather up your scalp, and to his great embarrassment, he let out a little moan as April worked her fingers into his scalp and through his hair. 

_Oh fuck. Now she probably thinks you’re some kind of pervert_ , he fretted. This would definitely upset the delicate trust that was currently in the balance. 

He was surprised when she didn’t seem bothered. “It feels good, doesn’t it? I love getting my hair washed at the hairdressers,” she said as she rinsed his hair and began the process over again with the conditioner. She sounded like she was going for conversational, but landing somewhere between awkward and nervous. “It’s always so relaxing. Did you know there are these special kinds of salons called blow out bars where all they do is wash and dry your hair for you? I mean they dry it so it looks really nice, but still. I’ve always wanted to try it, but it seems like kind of an extravagance.” 

He was not aware of these ‘blow out bars,’ but his mind took a quick break from basking in the lovely feel of April’s hands to make some mental notes: _April likes getting her hair washed; research ‘blow out bars’; add possible gift certificate to list of potential gifts for April._

After another rinse of his hair, Donnie was so relaxed he almost forgot for a moment what was coming next, namely, April cleaning his body. This is what he’d been most nervous about. How would he react? If it was his own body, he’d be aroused before she even made contact. Would he get aroused in her body? Even if he didn’t identify strongly with this body, there was no reason to think it wouldn’t react to certain stimuli. 

“Ok, I’m going to suds up the wash cloth and then I’ll start with your shoulders and work my way down, ok?” She also sounded a little nervous and by now any of the relaxation he had been feeling was replaced by anxiety. 

_Just play it cool. Don’t over react_ , he lectured himself. _And if you do feel something… no big deal. Girls don’t get erections. She’ll never know._

He tensed for a second when he felt the washcloth against his skin and the light pressure of April’s hand on the other side of the fabric, but forced himself to try to relax. The only thing he had to compare this to was when one of his brothers helped him scrub his carapace. But they’d never run their hands gently over his shoulders the way April was doing now. Even if they had, he very much doubted he’d feel the same way about it. 

As she ran the washcloth down his back, he began to feel heat pooling in his stomach--a sensation that only grew as she dipped into the small of his back and ran the washcloth over his ass. He heard April make a sound as if she were starting to say something, but held back. 

“What?” he asked. His voice sounded uneven.

“Oh, uh, nothing,” April said from behind him. “I almost apologized. For, you know. Touching your butt. Only it’s my butt. So…” 

He forced himself to laugh. “Hah, yeah.”

“Ok, coming around the front.”

He listened to her footsteps as she circled around him, and a few seconds later, he felt the cloth on him again, now moving across his chest. The feeling in his gut was still growing, but dipped lower as he felt her run the cloth over one of his breasts, then the other. He hadn't realized how sensitive his nipples were until now, and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from making a sound when the washcloth passed over them. 

Jesus Christ. If he had a dick he’d be in trouble right now. He wondered if his nipples were hard, and fought the overwhelming urge to touch them. If April noticed anything, she kept quiet as she continued to wash his stomach, sending little sparks of arousal down through his core. 

She lifted the washcloth away before moving down past his hips. “Um, can you… just spread your legs a little?” she asked quietly. 

Donnie nodded and moved his legs apart, fighting to keep his cool. He needed a distraction. “I, uh, I thought the vagina was like a-a-a self-cleaning oven?” _Oh perfect, Don._

April laughed nervously. “It is. But girls are still supposed to clean the outside parts. So, I’m going to do that, ok?”

“Ok--ahh,” he gasped as she ran the washcloth between his legs and he felt it briefly rub against a spot that shot a bolt of something good through his system. April blessedly said nothing and Donnie prayed that he wasn’t blushing or doing anything else that might give away the fact that he was now completely turned on and having wild thoughts about asking April to wash that spot again. 

He tried to get a grip as she began washing his legs. _Wow. So that spot must have been… yeah._ He hadn’t felt anything specific when he’d wiped down there the few times he’d gone to the bathroom in this body. At least nothing beyond the vague outline of her slit, and even that had sent him into a little tizzy. But now. Darwin’s beard, how was he ever going to be able to go back to normal after all this? How was he going to look at April after she got back in her body, knowing all this about her?

“All right, all done,” he heard her sigh. She pushed him back slowly until he was under the spray. 

“Uh, thanks,” he said weakly. _Get it together, Donatello._

“Now I have to wash,” he heard her say, then pause. “Uh… anything I should know? Before I...?”

“No, not much,” he said, grateful to be off the subject of April’s body. “Uh, don’t worry about the shell. Scrubbing that’s a whole procedure and I usually get one of my bros to help. It doesn’t need to be cleaned every time. Just, you know, make sure you get under the lip of my plastron and carapace. Uh, and be gentle with my tail.”

“Got it.”

He stood there awkwardly for a minute as April cleaned herself up. He wondered if she would have similar reactions as to what he’d just experienced if he were to wash her while she was still in his body. Or maybe she’d be too disgusted by his body to be able to get any kind of pleasure out of the experience. Maybe this was all just clinical to her. 

“Done,” she finally said, and he felt her nudge him out of the way so she could stand under the shower head to rinse for a moment before turning it off. He listened as she stepped out of the shower and padded across the floor to get towels before helping him out of the shower and beginning to pat and rub his body. This drying off process wasn’t as nice as the washing, but maybe that was for the best. 

“Ok, I have your underwear and pants. One foot up,” April directed him. She helped him into his bottoms, then told him to raise his arms. “I got you some sports bras. They’ll be more comfortable than the bra you’ve been wearing and you can wear them to bed and they won’t irritate you.”

“Oh. Good.” He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say to that. He felt her slip the bra over his arms, then over his head and chest. He could instantly feel the difference. April was right--he much preferred this bra. 

“You can open your eyes, D,” she said. “Women go running in sports bras all the time and I have bikinis that cover less. I don’t mind you seeing my body in one.”

Donnie finally cracked open his eyes and saw himself in the mirror. He was wearing grey sweatpants and a navy blue bra, and his wet hair was hanging loose around his shoulders. He’d never seen April looking like this, but it was nice. 

He was trying to figure out what to say when he heard a hard knocking on the door. Without thinking, he yelled, “It’s fine! Come in!”

The door slammed open to reveal Raph on the other side. Donnie looked nervously at April. What if she didn’t want Raph seeing her in just her bra? Maybe this was supposed to be something just between the two of them. 

But April just rolled her eyes and shrugged before tossing Donnie the shirt she was holding. He fumbled and missed, but Raph caught it on his way to one of the toilet stalls and handed it to him, a smirk spreading his face as he did so. 

“Nice tits, Don,” he whispered loudly.

It happened so fast he could have sworn April had teleported across the bathroom. 

SMACK. Raph stumbled into the wall, clutching his face where April had slapped him. 

“You watch your mouth, Raphael!” she snarled. “If I hear you talking like that again I’ll go straight to Splinter.”

Raph threw up his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry! Sorry! It was a joke! Sorry!”

“That’s still my body you’re talking about,” April seethed. “Would you say that to me?”

“No! Of course not!”

“Then don’t say it to him!”

Raph hung his head. “You’re right. Sorry. I was being a smartass,” he said contritely. 

April let out a little ‘hmph,’ then turned to Donnie. “Put your shirt on D, let’s go.”

He did as she said, somehow even more in love with her than he was when he woke up that morning, and followed her out of the bathroom. 

“That was awesome,” he breathed. 

“He deserved it,” she said, then her tone turned chipper. “But yeah, I’ve never hit anyone that hard before. Being this strong rocks!”

* * *

A couple hours later and they were back in the lab. Donnie was making a go of putting the machine back together, but the more he worked, the more evident it became that this was not something that was going to come together overnight. 

He sighed to himself and looked over at April. She was on her laptop, hunting and pecking at the keys as she tried to type an essay for her English class—she still hadn’t gotten used to typing on a standard keyboard with his hands. She’d been such a trooper so far, staying relatively calm as they navigated every twist and turn as they got used to having each others’ bodies. Still, he had to tell her.

“Bad news, April. I think it might take me a few days to get this up and working,” he said.

She let out a long sigh, then nodded. “Ok.”

“Ok? That’s it?”

“Am I supposed to say something else?”

He shrugged. “I just… thought you might take it harder than that. The fact that you’re going to be stuck with that,” he gestured up and down her figure, “for a couple more days.”

She cocked her head to the side. “Donnie, I’m just thankful your bad news wasn’t ‘Sorry, April, looks like this thing is permanent.’ If you say you can fix it, I believe you can. And I can wait a couple days if that’s what it takes. Besides, it’s not so bad.”

He found that hard to believe. She was a beautiful girl trapped in the body of a mutant. A monster. And in the meantime, a mutant was driving her body around and having to touch her when he used the bathroom. How could she say it’s not so bad? She must be ready to rip off her skin. 

“Donnie.” Her voice called him back into reality. “Don’t do that.”

“What? Do what?” he asked, looking down at his hands. Had he been touching something he wasn’t supposed to?

“I can tell what you’re thinking. Just from your face,” she explained. “I’m being honest. Yeah, this isn’t ideal, but we’ll be fine. I can live like this a little longer. Your body isn’t this disgusting swamp monster thing that you seem to think it is. I like your body.”

Donnie smiled. He was unconvinced that this was the truth, but he was grateful enough that she was trying to console him. “Thanks,” he said. 

“It’s the truth,” she sang as she turned back to her computer. “I can tell you don’t believe me, but it is. Do you really think I’d give you hugs and kiss you on the cheek if I was repulsed by you?”

Well. She may have a point there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: April lets her mind wander, causing her to wind up in a sticky situation. Donnie comes to the rescue, which leads to an unexpected concession. 
> 
> Plus! Fun facts about taste buds.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> April discovers a new body part she’s never seen before, which leads to her easing up on one of her rules. 
> 
> I didn’t mention it before, but Donnie and April are around 17 years old in this fic, which isn’t strictly important, but I feel it does sort of affect some of their actions and nervousness around certain activities. (Sex. I’m talking about sex here.)

April woke up the next morning feeling a little more at ease with herself and her temporary place in the world. Having learned her lesson, she’d slept under a single comforter, and therefore didn’t feel like she was about to combust the moment she awoke, which was admittedly a better way to start her day. 

She sat up in bed and checked her phone. It was still pretty early, so she laid back down, content to laze around for a while. Her thoughts drifted to the day before and she wondered if Donnie had eventually believed her when she told him she did, in fact, like his body. It was the truth. Sure, she’d been freaked out the first time she saw the turtles, and if someone would have frozen the scene and told her that pretty soon she’d not only be completely comfortable with them, she’d actually find them cute at times, she never would have believed it. 

But it was true; their scales and shells were as familiar to her now as her human classmates’ hair and skin. It wasn’t weird. Of course it _was_ weird being in Donnie’s body, but no weirder than if she would have wound up in Casey’s. In fact, she was kind of happy that if she was going to wind up in some other guy’s body it was Donnie’s. Because she knew Donnie’s body. And she like it. She liked how solid it felt when she leaned on him during a movie night or how comforting it felt when he wrapped her up in a hug. 

She wondered how Donnie was faring with all this. He’d maintained a positive attitude and he’d been extremely amenable to all her requests and boundaries. She thought back to their shower together and felt a surge of warmth for him and how respectful he’d been. He hadn’t peeked once, to her knowledge, and he hadn’t tried to touch her body at all. Even when she’d suspected he really wanted to.

She’d noticed him squirming a little when she’d washed some of his more sensitive body parts and she’d caught the little gasp that had escaped him when she’d washed between his legs. His nipples had been hard and she’d wondered if he was aroused, but didn’t ask. He didn’t deserve the potential embarrassment. 

Raising her hand in front of her face, she contemplated Donnie’s long, thick fingers and found herself wondering what they would feel like on her body. Her normal body. Donnie had definitely reacted when she’d swiped a finger over his clit and his folds, even though it was through a washcloth. And because her life wasn’t weird enough, she was now jealous of Donnie for experiencing that before she could. 

How would these hands feel? She saw for herself yesterday how easily they’d encompass her breasts. Just thinking about it now was starting to make her squirm. She closed her fist and extended a single digit. She had zero experience with real-life penises, but she knew enough to know that the finger she was looking at was comparable in size to what she’d been told the average man was packing. Her heart sped up as she allowed herself to continue thinking.

She’d thought before about what sex with Donnie might be like, in the same way most girls off-handedly wonder what their guy friends might be like in bed. Although obviously there was a lot more mystery involved with picturing what Donnie might be like. But now… now that she was really getting to know his body, it was getting easier. 

She stared at her hand and thought about what it might feel like to have those fingers rubbing between her legs and over her clit. A low throb was starting to emanate from between her own legs, but she ignored it. Instead, she closed her eyes and tried to imagine what it might feel like when one of those fingers entered her. She had no frame of reference other than her own finger, but she suspected it would feel full, and good, and that would be before he started moving it. 

The throbbing between her legs intensified, but she was already too deep in her daydream. She wondered how Donnie would touch her. He would be gentle, she decided, and eager to please. He’d make sure she came, he’d insist on it. 

And with that thought, she felt a lurching sensation in her lower gut as, to her confusion, her tail unfurled and an organ that could only be her penis slipped out. 

Oh. Holy. _Shit_. 

She scrambled up in bed and gaped down at the appendage that was now protruding from between her legs. It was large, much larger than she’d expected, and thick. In the dim light of the room she could see that its purple skin was glistening with some sort of natural lubrication that encompassed it from its base to its flared head. 

_Oh god, oh god, oh god_. It wasn’t that she was disgusted or afraid of it. She was more embarrassed. She’d done this to herself. Why didn’t she stop her train of thought? How could she not have seen this coming? 

Ok. It was out. Surely, there had to be some way to… put it back. Her mind unhelpfully reminded her how most guys get their erections to go away and she felt another throb in her groin. But as tempting as it was, she couldn’t touch it, much less give herself a handjob. It would be a gross violation of trust. Maybe if she just ignored it, it would go away on its own. She grabbed her phone and pulled up a sudoku app, hoping it would do the trick.

Five minutes later, she was still hard. Fuck. This. What if the turtles were different from most guys? What if… what if they had to come before they could tuck themself back away? She groaned and tapped on her phone again, texting Donnie to come to her room. _Today’s as good a day to die as any_ , she thought as she pulled her sheet over her and winced as it rubbed against her cock. 

A few seconds later, there was a knock on her door. “April, are you ok?” came Donnie’s voice. 

“Uh, technically? Yes? Just. Come in and close the door,” she called, hoping the bed would just swallow her up, Nightmare On Elm Street style. 

Donnie entered and shut the door behind him. “What’s wro-ooong, oh shit,” he cursed as he took in the scene. 

April could feel herself getting hot in the face as she looked off to the left, refusing to meet his eyes. “I’m so, so sorry Donnie,” she cried. “I didn’t mean to! It just… sorta came out. And I didn’t know what to do. I swear I didn’t touch it, I thought maybe it would go away by itself, so I tried doing some sudoku, but it didn’t work and it’s been like five minutes, and…”

“Ok, ok,” he cut off her ramble. “It’s going to be ok.” He slowly approached the bed and sat down at the foot of it, still in her pajamas. “It’s, uh, perfectly natural. It happens. And, uh, it’ll go away on it’s own, but it can take a little time.” His tone was careful, but she could tell from the way his eyes were darting around that he was thisclose to freaking out.

“How much time?” Five minutes already seemed excessive. 

“It’ll probably be pretty soon,” he assured her. “Just as long as, you know, you don’t think about anything too, uh, arousing. Or touch it.”

“Ok,” she nodded, finally looking at him. “Sorry, for freaking out. It’s just, well, you can imagine.” _Please, oh please don’t ask me what I was thinking about that made it come out._

“Yeah, sure,” he said a little awkwardly.

“So, jeez, it always takes this much time for it to go away?” she asked, forcing herself to try to be cool.

“Uh, sometimes,” he said, looking around the room. “It uh, goes away a lot faster if I, you know.” He made a crude gesture with his hand and she giggled. 

“Well, I’m not going to do that. Doesn’t seem right, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” he said, still looking elsewhere. 

A thought dawned on her. “I mean, you haven’t touched me, I mean my body, down there, right?”

That made him look at her. “Of course not!” he said, blushing and looking away again. Something told her he wasn’t giving her the whole truth. 

“Donnie…?”

He sighed. “Ok. I promise I haven’t touched, but. Well, last night when I was changing for bed, I… may-have-caught-a-glimpse-of-your-boobs-in-the-mirror-please-don’t-hate-me,” he said quickly. “I swear I had my chin up, looking at the ceiling like you told me to, but… well. Yeah. I saw them. Sorry.” He hung his head. 

He looked so shameful, the only thing she could do was laugh. How could she be mad? This was Donnie. And yeah, he could be a little over the top with his affections, but chivalry mattered to him and she could tell he felt bad. Plus the idea of him freaking out in his room over having seen her breasts was pretty funny.

“Oh, D, that’s, that’s fine,” she chuckled. 

He looked at her like she was speaking a language he didn’t understand. “What?”

She shrugged. “You’ve seen my boobs, I’ve seen your dick. I guess we’re even. I can’t be mad.”

“Really?” He looked extremely relieved. 

“Yeah. I’m actually impressed that you held out this long. I guess it’s only natural to be curious.”

“Yeah,” he nodded vigorously, then stopped and looked at her shrewdly. “Wait… is that why…? Were you curious?” He nodded pointedly toward her crotch.

April swallowed nervously. “No, but… well, I may have done some googling, in the past,” she admitted, hoping to distract Donnie from asking why her dick had made an appearance this morning. 

He took the bait. “Googling? What exactly were you looking up?”

“Turtle genitals?” she said in a small voice. 

Donnie’s mouth hung open for a second. “Oh god,” he whispered. “So how freaked out were you?”

April smiled. “Just a little.”

He winced, and she spoke quickly. “But I was happy to see yours isn’t… isn’t quite like that. I mean, it’s not scary. I’m not, uh, weirded out by it or anything.”

“You called me in here—”

“Because I didn’t know how to make it go down. Not because I was scared of it. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s a, a very nice penis.” _A nice penis? Oh god, just kill me now._

Donnie was looking at her like she’d grown another head, but then he glanced at the space between her legs. “Well, it looks like it’s going away now,” he muttered. And sure enough, April could feel a strange, pulling sensation in her lower half as her penis retracted itself. She let out a sigh of relief. 

“Ooook, now that _that_ is over, I think I’m just gonna,” Donnie jerked his thumb toward the door. 

April nodded. Somehow, now that the penis was gone, her embarrassment seemed to have transferred into Donnie. She had to do something. She knew what would cheer him up, or at least get his mind off of whether or not she truly liked his penis. 

“Hey, D?”

He paused on his way to the door. 

“You know, now that I’ve seen you,” she nodded toward her crotch, “And you’ve officially seen my boobs, maybe we should just drop the whole modesty thing. You can look. Like while you get dressed and stuff. I don’t mind.”

She watched his eyes go round as he sucked in a quick breath. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I trust you.”

* * *

April sat at the kitchen counter, slowly twirling a spoon around each of her three fingers. She was becoming more adroit, but it was slow going.

“Cheese and crackers you have to pee a lot,” she heard her own voice complaining from the other side of the dividing curtain. She looked up to see Donnie entering the kitchen and she shrugged. 

“Sorry?” 

“Nah, forget it,” he waved her off, then drew in close and lowered his voice. “Actually, I, uh, wanted to ask you about something I just thought of. Just in case. Something that I’d rather, uh, know about ahead of time?” he rambled nervously. “Um, I know this is pretty personal but, uh, are you, you know, due to menstruate any time soon?” 

April cringed. Bringing up her period was uncomfortable enough, but the fact he’d tried to soften the blow by using the technical term somehow made it extra ick. “No. Not for like, another couple weeks.” 

“Oh! Ok. Phew!” Donnie pretended to wipe his brow. “Crisis averted.” 

April rolled her eyes. Yes, surely the most terrifying possibility in their circumstance would be Donnie getting his period. Jesus Don. 

“Anyway,” she cleared her throat. “There’s Chinese take out.” She pointed at the counter. “I managed to hold your brothers back from eating all of it, so there’s actually some left over for us.” 

Donnie had spent the day in the lab while she’d floated around the lair, helping him when he needed it, but also giving him room to work in peace. Now he joined her at the counter where they scooped helpings out of the various take out boxes. 

They sat down across from each other and dug in. April sighed in delight and comfort as she bit into an egg roll. 

“Mmmm, I was so in the mood for this,” she said happily.

“Totally.” Donnie nodded and slurped up some dan dan noodles, then made a face. 

“Something wrong?”

“It’s nothing. Just… you don’t like spicy food, do you?” Donnie asked, poking at the noodles as if they might be hiding something.

“It depends. I like some stuff. But, the noodles from this place are usually a little too hot for me. Are they giving you a problem?”

She watched as he held up a noodle and inspected it. “Fascinating. These noodles don’t usually seem hot at all to me. But right now it tastes like someone dialled up their Scoville units. Here,” he said brightly. “Try some.”

He plucked up more noodles with his chopsticks and held them out to her. She ducked away. “Eh, I’ll pass.”

“No, come on,” he begged. “It’s an experiment. They shouldn’t taste that hot to you anymore. You’ve got my tongue now.”

April’s brain short-circuited for a second as that last sentence ran through her head, then sighed and opened her mouth, allowing Donnie to feed her the noodles. To her surprise, they didn’t taste hot at all, just a tad bit spicy. 

“Mmm! They’re good! I can see why you usually like them.” She leaned forward and pinched a few more off his plate. He turned his plate so they were closer to her. “You know, this might explain something that happened earlier today,” she continued. “I was playing video games with Mikey and he brought out some Sweetarts, which I usually love, but they tasted a little off. I just thought maybe Mikey had had them for a while and they were past the expiration date.”

Donnie shook his head. “I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. We’re both working with a new set of taste buds. And there could be more than just that at play here,” he said, diving into Professor Don Mode. “Fun fact: women, on average, have more taste buds than men. So things would probably taste slightly different to you even if we were to take away taste preference variables.”

“Huh, how about that?” April mused. Why did it all of a sudden seem so strangely intimate to her that she was now tasting things with Donnie’s tongue? _This is how obsessions and fetishes get started_ , she warned herself. 

“You know, now that I think about it, food has tasted… I don’t know. Slightly more flavorful? Since we changed, I mean,” Donnie was still talking. “It’s nice. Maybe I’ll have to try something sweet after dinner.”

April smiled and took a bite of some chicken. “That’s how it starts. Before you know it, you’ll be a raging choco-holic like me. Just remember, that sweet stuff comes with consequences.”

“What do you mean?”

April huffed. “If I gave in and ate chocolate or cake or whatever anytime I was craving it, I’d be in trouble.” She looked over at Donnie and sighed, noting the way her body’s hips flared out more than she cared for. It was an insecurity of hers that she was usually able to put out of mind, but having it right in front of her face made it a little more difficult to ignore. “Ugh, when I’m back in my body, I’m going to recommit myself to cardio.”

Donnie frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, just picturing how all those Snickers bars are sitting on my hips and ass. Hard not to see it when it’s right in front of me,” she said, trying to keep her tone light. Donnie didn’t need a trip down April’s Hall of Things I Don’t Like About My Body. _To your right, ladies and gentlemen, you’ll see my glorious child-bearing hips. Coming up just ahead, my left breast, which is just slightly larger than my right and seems a little cockeyed._

“April,” he said softly. “You have nothing to worry about. You have a great body. It’s very… well, uh, I like it. Very much.” He blushed and cleared his throat. “And that wouldn’t change. I think you’d look beautiful no matter what shape you were in.” He looked down at his plate.

“Aww, Donnie.” April’s heart swelled. She wanted to leap off her chair and kiss him on the cheek, but it seemed like a strange thing to do while still in her current body. Instead, she reached out and took his hand. “That’s very sweet of you.”

He looked up at her and squeezed her hand with his. “I mean it, you know.”

“I know.”

They sat like that for a couple more seconds before the divider curtain flicked open and broke up the moment. They released each other’s hands just as Mikey walked in. 

“Any of that food left?” he asked as he ambled past them, oblivious to the scene he’d just intruded upon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Donnie takes April up on her willingness to bend the “no looking” rule and awkward confessions are made. 
> 
> Plus! Donnie masters the ponytail.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Donnie takes April up on her “you can look” policy and April lets slip another embarrassing confession.

Donnie turned the wrench clockwise a few more times, tightening up a bolt deep inside the neural switcher before carefully withdrawing his arm. He had to admit it was convenient having smaller limbs and hands when it came to putting machinery together. He walked over to his computer and pulled up the code for the machine. 

He’d also finally got the gist of typing with all those extra fingers and smaller fingertips that fit much nicer on his keyboard keys. _Humans. They don’t know how good they’ve got it_ , he thought for the millionth time in his life. Distracted for a moment from the code, he held his hands up in front of him, turning them over. It was amazing—a credit to neural resilience, really—how familiar those hands already seemed to him now. Not really alien at all. It was no longer jarring to see them or to feel them when he scratched an itch or rested his chin on his fist. And he’d even finally mastered pulling his hair up into a smooth ponytail.

He couldn’t quite say the same for other parts of his body. Everytime he looked down and saw his breasts, it was like a needle scratch—he got over it quickly, but still. And then last night had happened. 

He’d been getting ready for bed. After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he’d shut himself in his room and started to change into the pajamas April had given him. He’d just finished taking off his shirt when he remembered what April had said earlier, after that please-kill-me-now embarrassing situation in her room involving the two of them and an unfortunately resistant erection. _You can look. I don’t mind._

He’d frozen in place for a couple seconds as he debated what he should do. On one hand, he really wanted to look. He’d caught just a glimpse of his boobs the previous night and he was dying to see more. And he had April’s permission! But, on the other hand, it sort of seemed like he was taking advantage. Getting naked and staring at April’s body in his mirror had to qualify as a total creeper move, right? But then again… he really, _really_ wanted to. 

His hormones had won out in the end, and he’d wound up spending close to ten minutes staring at his, or her, naked body in his mirror. 

If catching a quick peek at her breasts had been exciting, getting to openly stare at them was an exercise in exquisite torture. It took nearly all of his will power not to touch them. They looked so soft and round and fun to play with. He had watched in fascination as his nipples hardened and he began to feel the same way he’d felt in the shower when April was washing him. 

He’d raked his eyes down the reflection of his body, taking in the small triangle of red curls between his legs, just fair and sparse enough for him to see the cleft at the top of her slit. He’d been tempted to find a hand mirror so he could look further down, so he could see _all_ of her, but he’d resisted. It seemed a step too far. 

Not that his limited view wasn’t more than enough. He’d turned slowly on the spot, watching the graceful swivel of his hips and mentally shaking his head as he remembered April complaining about their shape earlier that evening. How could she think they weren’t attractive? If only she knew how badly he longed to grab onto them. How much he fantasized about holding them while she moved on top of him. 

And then he’d seen her ass. She’d made a comment about that, too, and now he had half a mind to put her through a full psychiatric evaluation because she was clearly insane. He’d groaned with longing, flexing his fingers as he imagined squeezing her cheeks. _Fuck_. 

In an attempt at putting himself out of his misery, he’d shuffled back around, and that’s when he’d felt it. A slight, slippery sensation between his upper thighs. _Double fuck_. If the sight of April’s naked body had turned him on, the experience of April’s aroused naked body—knowing how wet she could get—was going to kill him. 

He’d hurriedly dressed in her pajamas and thrown himself in bed where he’d forced himself to read about string theory until he fell asleep. 

Even as he thought of it now, he could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. So of course this was the moment April chose to walk into the lab.

“Hey, D,” she said cheerfully before stopping in her tracks and staring at him. “Whoa. Are you ok?”

“Ok? Yeah, of course! Why wouldn’t I be?” He winced at how shrill he sounded. 

A sly smile crossed her face. “Well, I very rarely blush that deep,” she said as she joined him, ignoring his mental pleas for her to go away. “Something you want to share with the class?”

He shook his head. “Nope. I uh, was just thinking about, uh… string. theory. Some amazing breakthroughs recently. They’re saying—”

“You’re blushing thinking about string theory?” she said flatly. 

“It’s a very sexy topic.”

“Mmmhmm.” She leaned in and gave him a scrutinizing look before smiling. “You looked, didn’t you?”

“Huh-what?” How could she possibly know? Was she upset? She gave him permission!

“I think you looked and you were just sitting here thinking about it.”

He made a whining sound in his throat, then slumped in his chair. “Arghhh, yeah. I looked.”

April stifled a laugh. “And it was that powerful, huh?”

He eyed her carefully. “It was like the Ark of the Covenant.”

April burst out laughing. “Oh my god, Donnie. Wow. You certainly know how to make a girl feel special. I’m glad to see your face wasn’t melted off after beholding all my glory!”

He rolled his eyes. “Har har. You know, you weren’t exactly graceful when you beheld all _my_ glory.”

“Hmmm, yes, well.” She sobered up, then smiled. “I guess we’ve ventured beyond the realms of normal friendship, huh?”

“Yee-ah, sorry again that you had to deal with all that.” He gestured toward her crotch. “I’m sure it was a little traumatic.”

“Hey, that’s not true at all,” she scoffed. “I was surprised, but not shocked. I told you. I didn’t think it was scary or gross or anything. I was just surprised that it, you know, made an appearance. It looked nicer than I expected.”

His brain turned over what she was saying. Nicer than she expected? She really _had_ thought about his dick before. _Ok. Ok, April. You want to tease me about looking? Two can play at that game._

He smirked. “So, how often had you thought about my dick? Before all this.”

April’s eyes grew wide. “I-I-I,” she stuttered. “What the… when the hell did you get so bold, D?”

He snorted and waved his hand like this was all no big deal—a blatant lie. “We’ve seen each other’s genitals, April. I think coyness has long gone out the window. So… how often?”

She laughed nervously and toyed with the tails of his mask as if they were hair. “Uh, not that often. But… I have. Yeah.”

“Just, uh, mine? Or all of ours? My brothers’?” he pushed, egged on by this sudden surge in honesty between them.

April’s cheeks turned dark and she looked away. “Just yours.”

Donnie clamped his mouth shut to keep in the whoop that was about to explode from his lips. Holy chalupa, April thinks about his dick sometimes. Not just once, when she was curious. But like. Multiple times. And she didn’t seem completely grossed out by it.

“So,” April said, obviously trying to get back in control of the situation. “Had you ever thought about me? What I look like?” 

_Is she kidding right now?_ Donnie didn’t reply, but gave her a look that clearly said, ‘duh.’

She laughed nervously again. “I guess… I guess it’s normal, right? To be curious about your friends. And what it might be like.” 

Donnie frowned. What was she saying? What he might be like? As in his anatomy? Or was she talking about more? “What _what_ might be like?” he asked tentatively. 

She looked away again. “Um, you know. Sex,” she said, her cheeks growing darker. 

It was like fireworks were going off in his brain. April. Had thought about having sex. With him. This was clearly a day for the ages. He was never going to recover from this. He could feel his mouth opening and closing, trying to respond even though he had no words. 

April didn’t seem to notice. She was still speaking. “... and I guess when I used to think about it, there was always that question. I had no idea if it would even be possible. But I guess it would be. Possible. Anyway.” 

She finally stopped talking and they stared at each other as an awkward cloud settled over the room. Donnie’s brain was screaming about how often he’d thought about having sex with her, but he kept his mouth shut, not trusting what might come tumbling out of it if he did speak. 

After a long couple of seconds, April coughed, then stood up. “I think I’m going to, uh, hit the hay. Get some rest.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah,” Donnie said, still not trusting his mouth with complex sentences. “Good night.”

“Night, D.” April nodded and walked briskly out of the lab.

He collapsed forward onto his desk. What in the actual fuck? Up until literally two minutes ago, he’d had no reason to think April thought of him in any sort of way beyond being friends. She’d never said or done anything to make him think otherwise. And now she just drops this bombshell? Was she trying to kill him? Was this some sort of elaborate revenge for him looking at her naked body?

Or maybe, just maybe, she was finally being honest with him. He thought about it some more. Extraordinary circumstances can cause people to act in extraordinary ways. Was this some form of screaming out a confession the moment before you think your plane is about to crash? Or was this more of a what-have-I-got-to-lose situation? He and April had never been closer. They’d seen each other naked. They’d literally wiped each other’s asses. What else was there?

So what did it all mean? Was there some sort of chance that April might actually like him? Did he have a chance after all? He’d really overplayed his confidence with her, straight up asking if she’d been thinking about his dick—seriously, what the hell had he been thinking? Could he do that again? But instead of asking if she’d ever considered his genitals, maybe ask her if she ever considered liking him? Or even dating him?

He lifted his hand and examined it again. If he was going to gather his courage/black out while talking to April about it, it would have to wait. It didn’t seem like the kind of conversation that should be had while they were switched. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: April and Donnie have a little fun with their new bodies (no, sorry not THAT sort of fun). 
> 
> Plus! April spends some quality time with Raph and Mikey.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> April gets teased by Raph and Mikey, then she and Donnie share some quality time together exploring some fun new opportunities their borrowed bodies have to offer.

April was in the kitchen the next day, nursing a mug of tea and trying to finish up her English essay. It was turning into a struggle. Instead of focusing on symbolism in _Lord of the Flies_ , her mind kept drifting back to her conversation with Donnie last night. 

What had gotten into her? Why had she admitted all that? It was the most severe case of verbal diarrhea she’d ever experienced. She knew Donnie had feelings for her, and she’d always tried to avoid leading him on or giving him any false hope while she worked out her own feelings. You don’t just snap your fingers and you’re instantly attracted to a giant turtle, afterall. These things take time. Even when she’d figured out that, yes, she did have feelings for him, she still wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with them. 

But the cat was sure out of the bag now. What had she been thinking? Talking to Donnie about his dick and the idea of having sex? _That she kind of wanted to?_ her brain unhelpfully supplied. Not that she had any point of reference, but it would probably be fun. Well, maybe not at first. Donnie was a lot bigger than her finger, which was the only experience she’d really had with any sort of penetration. But they’d figure it out. 

She squirmed in her seat. She needed to stop thinking about sex or else her penis might make another appearance. And also, hold up; was she really considering this? Being with Donnie? If anything, the past few days had proved that he’d treat her well—although she’d always kind of known that. And this _had_ brought them closer together, for better or worse. No one knew her like Donnie did—inside and out, and now more than ever.

And she enjoyed being with him. He was already her best friend. Several months ago, Mikey had casually asked April in front of all the turtles which member of his family was her favorite, inciting an amusing debate among the brothers over who she liked best. She’d eventually copped out and said it was Splinter, but as they all groaned, she’d caught Donnie’s gaze and smiled, silently letting him know the truth. 

So maybe it was time to see if it would work. They got along, she clearly was attracted to him, there was no one else she could see herself being happier with—yeah, maybe it was time for a talk. After they switched back, of course.

She sighed and tried to refocus on her essay. _Long before his martyrdom, Simon embodies Christ-like themes throughout the story, namely when he_ …

“Yo, Ape, think fast!”

She spun and held her hand out just in time to catch the bag of chips that was currently flying at her head. It was unbelievable how good Donnie’s reflexes were. She’d miss that when she returned to her body. 

“My variety pack only has pickle-flavored chips left and I can’t stand ‘em,” Mikey said as he sat down next to her. Raph had followed him into the kitchen and sat down as well. 

“I can’t believe this is where you draw the line on flavor combos,” April said, shaking her head and putting the chips off to the side.

“So, how are you holding up in there?” Raph asked. Ever since the shower incident, he’d been making an effort to be extra nice to her. She appreciated it, although she was also pretty sure the “nice tits” comment would haunt her for life.

“I’m doing ok,” she said. “I’ve mostly got the knack of driving this thing.”

“I’d say you’ve done a pretty bang up job, considering you got stuck with _Donnie_.”

“What does that mean?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Ah, nothing,” he said, then crossed his arms and leaned back. “Except of course Donnie’s the least coordinated, weakest, not to mention ugliest of all of us.” He raised an eyebrow at her and smirked.

“He is not,” she scoffed. 

“I’m just sayin’. You could have gotten stuck with this handsome face instead,” he said, pointing to himself. “Or gotten Mikey’s speed.” He pointed to his brother. “Or Leo’s coordination. Tough break, kid.”

“I happen to be happy with the turtle body I was given, thank you,” April said primly. “And I think I’ve adjusted pretty well. Donnie’s body is doing just fine.”

“So there haven’t been any… surprises?” Mikey said. A shit-eating grin spread across his face. 

She hesitated thinking of her erection the other morning. They didn’t need to know about that. “Nope,” she lied. 

“Uh huh, uh huh,” Mikey nodded, then leaned in. “So, has Donnie seen you naked yet? I mean, like, has he seen himself naked?”

“Mikey!” 

Raph slapped his brother on the back of the head. “What is wrong with you?”

“What?” Mikey wailed. “I was just curious! She saw Donnie’s wang the other morning!”

“How did you know that?” April whispered in a harsh tone. Raph was gaping at her, his mouth hanging wide open.

“The walls are thick, but the doors are thin, dude! I was passing by and I heard you guys talking,” Mikey explained. “So you released the kraken, huh?”

April hung her head. This was not a conversation she wanted to have. “Yes, I saw his dick,” she sighed. “It just… sorta came out.”

Both boys burst into laughter. “Aw, our little April is a man now!” Mikey giggled as April blushed. 

“Nothin’ to be ashamed of, April,” Raph chuckled and clapped a hand on her shoulder. “It’s something every boy goes through. Big day for you!”

She rolled her eyes. “You know what, I’m glad Donnie was the one I switched with. At least he handled this with a little—“

“Ho ho man, I can’t believe you told Donnie!” Mikey cut across her. “How red did he get?”

“I’m surprised he’s not still screaming!” Raph chortled. 

Now April was getting annoyed. This was Donnie they were talking about. She didn’t particularly enjoy how much they were reveling in his embarrassment. He didn’t have anything to be embarrassed by. She was the one who’d done it. 

“Right? That’s probably his nightmare!” Mikey slapped his brother’s shell. “I mean what girl wants to see that?”

“I know, man,” Raph was wiping tears from his eyes from laughing so hard. “Talk about a nail in the coffin. No human chick wants that.”

“I would!” She instantly clamped her mouth shut. Fuck, she didn’t mean to say that. She looked back and forth between the two, who’d frozen at her declaration. “I-I mean that there isn’t anything wrong with it. With him. It was just, yeah.”

Mikey slowly raised a finger and pointed at her. “You like Donnie,” he half whispered, half sang. 

“I-I,” she stammered. Damn these nosy turtles. 

“You do,” Raph nodded slowly. “That’s probably why you weren’t freaked out by his…” he jerked his head downward. “That son of a gun. He did it.”

She stared at them for a second, then got up. “I’m going to go work on this in my room,” she mumbled as she collected her things. 

“Sure thing, April,” Mikey sang out behind her as she left. 

* * *

After hiding out in her room for most of the day, she decided to go find Donnie. He hadn’t shown up for dinner, so she brought him a couple slices of pizza. 

“How’s it going?” she called as she poked her head into the lab. “I brought you some dinner.”

Donnie looked up from his computer. Behind him, the neural switcher stood complete, and April realized with excitement that this might all be over soon. 

“Awesome, thanks, April,” he said as she set the plate down next to him. He shoved his laptop to the side and picked up a slice. “So, good news. I think this’ll be ready by tomorrow.”

“Really?” She gazed at the machine. If they switched back tomorrow, should she tell him then? Would she be ready?

“Yep. Your time having to see all that,” he held his hand out and waved it over her, “when you look in the mirror is coming to an end.”

She clucked her tongue. “I don’t mind it and you know that.”

“Hmmph.”

She needed to change the subject. “So, has being human been everything you thought it would be?”

He shrugged. “Yes and no. There are definite pros and cons to it. Your hands, terrifyingly delicate as they are, make it a lot easier to work on certain machinery components—especially if they’re in tight spaces. And you’re so much more sensitive to things, which obviously has its advantages and drawbacks. I guess though the big difference would be social, but I haven’t really tested that out.” 

She frowned as she realized that other than their quick trip to her apartment, Donnie hadn’t left the lair since they’d switched. Talk about a lost opportunity. He could go anywhere right now, and in broad daylight. “Donnie, if there’s anything you want to do topside, anywhere you want to go, like a museum or something, you can,” she assured him. “I trust you to keep my body safe. You don’t have to stay down here for me.” 

He shook his head. “I thought about it. But technically I can get anywhere I really want to go up there, just not in the daylight. If I wanted to go to a museum I could easily disable the security and go walk around at night. Besides, if I went like this, who would I go with? Casey?”

April chuckled. “What, you _aren’t_ interested in hearing Casey’s opinions on Frida Kahlo?” She could just hear him going on and on about unibrows and exposed breasts.

Donnie grimaced. “I can only imagine. But you get my point, don’t you? It wouldn’t be fun to do it on my own. I’d want to be able to go with y-... someone. Plus, this is my life. I’m used to it. I don’t know, I guess I’m also a little worried that if I go up there now and get too used to walking around in full view that it’ll be that much harder to come back down here.”   


April nodded sadly. She hadn’t thought of that. 

Donnie shrugged. “Anyway. How about you? Anything you’ve been dying to try while you’re still in my body?” 

_Aside from maybe touching your dick?_ Holy hell, where’d that come from? She blinked, clearing her head. “Hmm, something I’d only be able to do if I were a turtle?” The idea came to her as soon as she said it.

“I want to try pulling into my shell. Your shell.” 

Donnie raised his brows. “Really?” 

“Yeah! When else would I ever be able to do that? I think it’s so cute when you guys do it,” she explained. “I honestly don’t know why you guys don’t do it more often.” 

“Because it’s not that comfortable,” Donnie said as he stood up. “Especially for me. But if you want to try it, be my guest.” 

Not exactly sure what she was doing, April tried to pull her head in first. But she only managed to tuck her chin. “Got any pointers?” she asked Donnie, who was silently watching. 

He walked over and placed his hands on either side of her jaw, forcing her to look straight ahead. “Keep your spine straight and your face looking forward. Don’t tilt your head up and down. That’s it,” he coached. “Now duck.” 

Following his directions, she pulled down. She felt a strange, slipping sensation, then half a second later, she was surrounded by darkness. She’d done it! She popped her head back up, triumphant grin in place. 

“Oh my god, that is so cool!” she squealed, and immediately did it again. 

Donnie chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. The head’s the easy part. Next comes tucking in those long limbs. Same principle as before. Don’t try to bend around the opening, just collapse yourself in like a folding chair.”

It took several attempts, but eventually she succeeded in pulling her arms and legs in together—only to fall promptly on her back. They both broke into laughter as she laid there helplessly, but already she could understand why Donnie didn’t like doing this. It was uncomfortably cramped in his shell and she popped back out after a few seconds and sat up. 

“See?” Donnie stood over her, teasing. “It’s a lot to fit in a small space.”

“No kidding,” she agreed as she let him help her up. “So, are you sure there’s nothing you want to do or try while you’re still human?” _I wonder if he’s thinking about touching me._

Donnie bobbed his head around, making a show of considering, then sighed. “Actually, there is one thing. I’d need your help though.”

“Anything.”

“Would you… would you be willing to give me a backrub?” He reached up and tugged at his ponytail, nervously playing with it as he spoke quickly. “I’ve never had one before—obviously, our shells normally make it impossible, but people on TV or in movies always make it look like it feels really good. I-I understand if you’re not comfortable doing it, but I just thought maybe—”

“I’d love to do it,” April cut him off. 

He perked up. “Really? Sweet!”

“Is now a good time?”

“Sure,” he nodded eagerly. 

“Ok, why don’t we go to your room then,” April said. “You can lay on your bed.”

She watched as he noticeably gulped, then nodded silently. They made their way to his room, thankfully not coming across any of his brothers or Splinter in the proces. Once they were inside, he shuffled awkwardly toward the bed. 

“Hold up,” April stopped him. If she was going to do this for him, she was going to do it right. And really, it was kind of like killing two birds with one stone. She was making a friend feel good while also giving her body a little pampering. And the fact that she’d be getting to do something quasi-intimate with Donnie? That was just the icing on the cake. “I’m going to give you more than a backrub. I’ll give you a back massage.”

“Really? That… that sounds great,” Donnie said, his eyes wide. 

“Yeah. I’ll use lotion and everything,” April said, eyeing the little bag of toiletries she’d brought from her apartment for him. “So take off your shirt and bra and lay down on your bed.”

Donnie made a little squeaking sound in the back of his throat and she giggled. “What? It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. And now it’s nothing you haven’t seen before too.”

“I… guess that’s true,” he shrugged. “Ok then.” He made quick work of shucking off her top and bra, then laid stomach down on the bed with his head resting on his folded arms. 

April grabbed a small bottle of lotion from the bag and squeezed some out on her hands as she climbed onto the bed next to him. “Ok, so for future reference, you always want to warm lotion up on your hands first before putting it on someone’s skin. It just makes things feel a little better.”

“Future reference?”

“Yeah. Now that I know how strong your hands are, you are definitely going to be returning the favor in the future,” she teased, knowing full well his mind would now be busy with thoughts of running his hands over her topless body. _Hey, who says I have to be the only one struggling with impure thoughts here?_

“Uh, uh, sure. I’d be happy to…” he drifted off into a sigh as she placed her hands onto his shoulder blades and began to work the lotion in, letting him get used to the feel of her hands on him. When she was younger, she and her girl friends used to give each other massages at sleepovers, and even though it had been a while since she’d given anyone a massage, she still remembered the basic steps. She began by placing more weight onto the heels of her hands and rubbing them slowly from Donnie’s shoulders down to the dip in his lower back, then repeating. 

He groaned as her hands slid over him, then caught himself. “Sorry,” he muttered. “That just feels really good.”

April smiled. “Good. And you don’t need to apologize,” she said softly. 

After a few minutes, she switched to kneading the muscles in his back, starting at the base of his neck, then working her way down. “Let me know if something doesn’t feel good,” she whispered. 

“No, it all feels… wonderful,” he groaned. 

She kept going, liking the fact that she was having this sort of effect on Donnie. He was obviously enjoying himself. And she was enjoying it too—it was unexpectedly erotic to watch her large hands working into his pale flesh, spanning the nip in her waist, knowing all the while that pretty soon they’d be back in their proper bodies and she could be in Donnie’s position. It was enough to give her that warm, tingly feeling low in her gut, and she forced herself to focus, not wanting her penis to make another appearance and ruin the moment. Of course, that only made her wonder if Donnie was getting turned on by this as well.

After a few more minutes of rubbing his back and listening to him make little moans and sighs, she swiped her hands lightly over his back a few times then stepped back. 

“Ok,” she said softly, not wanting to shock him out of whatever massage-induced stupor he might be in. “All done.”

He let out a long, happy sigh, then slowly got up. She watched him put his bra back on, struck for a second by how careful he was with her body--followed by her shirt. Finally he sat back down on the bed and smiled at her. “Thanks,” he said. “That… that was amazing.”

“It lived up to the hype?”

“Oh yeah. Exceeded expectations. Thank you, seriously.”

“Well, thank you too,” she said. He looked puzzled. “Sorry, just watching you get dressed there made me think. Thanks for being good to my body.”

“April, come on,” he laughed quietly. “Do you really think I wouldn’t treat you with the utmost care?”

She smiled and looked down. _Of course not._ “I know. But still. I appreciate it.”

“Well, it’ll probably be yours again by this time tomorrow,” he offered. 

“Fingers crossed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Donnie finally succeeds in switching them back, which leads to some important revelations… and smooches! 
> 
> Plus! We learn what April’s favorite part of being a mutant turtle was.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the end of things! Let’s get these two crazy kids together, shall we?

Donnie stood back and admired his work. The neural switcher was ready. He was a little impressed with himself that he'd been able to put it together as fast as he did, and with few hiccups. Even the components that had been broken when Leo had put his blades through the machine were a relatively easy fix. He frowned in thought. If it was this easy for _him_ to rebuild it, they should probably reconsider their approach to destroying kraang tech in the future. 

But that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was that he would finally be able to switch April and him back. He’d finally have his body back. Not that he’d minded having April’s for a few days, but she’d been right about how it had its drawbacks—he felt a lot more vulnerable knowing how much weaker he was and how much easier it was to get hurt. He’d never complain or berate himself again about not being as strong or as fast as his brothers. Well, at least not for a few weeks. 

He couldn’t wait to tell April. He was still so impressed with how well she’d handled this—and she’d been so compassionate. Still, he was certain she’d be itching to get her body back as well. As much as she’d said otherwise, there was no way she wasn’t just a little disgusted with having to deal with everything his mutant body had thrown at her. 

He still couldn’t believe she’d seen his dick and hadn’t run screaming for the hills. Not that she would have been able to get away from it. But the fact that she hadn’t had a meltdown was… surprising. It was easy sometimes in moments when his self-esteem was flying high to half-convince himself that maybe April could be attracted to him—as long as he didn’t think about his cock. She hugged and kissed him on the cheek, and that had to count for something right? She never kissed his brothers or Casey. She seemed comfortable being around him and never seemed afraid or disgusted to touch him. So maybe he had a chance. Or he would, until things went too far and she saw his dick. 

It was always the roadblock. Even if he was able to complete the mental gymnastics needed to convince himself that he wasn’t too ugly or weird or mutant-y or whatever, there was never any getting around his penis. Because it was one thing to hold hands with someone whose hands are so unlike your own. But it was quite another to do something as intimate as letting someone put something that alien-looking inside of you. And April deserved someone she could do _everything_ with. 

But this week had proven him wrong. April had seen all of him and she hadn’t freaked out. She’d been curious, which was understandable. And she’d even said it was ‘nice,’ which was a little weird, but he’d take it. And most critical of all, she’d admitted to imagining the two of them having sex! He was still in shock. 

He wondered what would happen when they switched back. Should he ask her out? Or would that be too much, too soon? Did she even want to go out? Just because she said she felt comfortable with his body and that he had a ‘nice penis’ and that she may have thought about what it would be like to have sex with him didn’t mean she actually wanted to do anything. 

He sat down at his desk and sighed, realizing he’d probably just do what he always did. Stay silent and continue to pine. Being friends with April was better than not being friends with April because he skeeved her out by saying something stupid like, “Hey, glad you got your body back. Wanna go out sometime so I can maybe get my hands back on it?” Ugh.

He shook his head and turned to his computer with the aim of distracting himself when a noise at his lab door caught his attention. It was April. Of course it was. Well, now that the neural switcher was complete, it was only a matter of time before he would have had to go find her. 

“How’s it going, D? Are you done yet?” she said as she approached him. 

“Actually, I was just about to come find you,” he lied. “It’s all set.”

She beamed at him. “Really?”

“Yep, I’m ready if you are,” he said as he stood up. She nodded eagerly and he pointed to where he’d taped a yellow ‘X’ on the floor. “Go stand there.”

“Gotcha. Oh my god, I’m so excited,” she chirped as she bounded over to the marked spot. 

“Heh, me too,” he agreed, his insecurities temporarily washed away by the excitement of switching back. He fired up the machine and typed in a few settings. “Ok, I’m going to put the timer on, then it should go off in ten seconds. Ready?”

“So ready,” she grinned. 

“All right. Here we go,” he muttered. He pressed one final button, then ran to a second ‘X’ on the floor. A few seconds later, the machine made a garbled whirring sound before emitting a band of pink light that shot out and hit the two of them. Donnie felt the same painful electricity coursing through him and he shut his eyes. He could hear April gasping in pain for a few seconds, then nothing. 

He slowly opened his eyes and knew at once it had worked—he was standing on the other side of his lab, and he could see April, now in her proper body, standing where he had been a few seconds ago. He looked down at himself and, yes, he was once again a turtle. He let out a whoop of triumph and turned back to April just in time to see her hurtling toward him with a gigantic smile on her face. 

“You did it!” she cried as she jumped into his arms. He held her tight, savoring how good it felt to be holding her to him in this body before putting her back down.

“Whew! It feels good to be home!” he exclaimed, patting his plastron affectionately. 

“Tell me about it!” April said, extending her arms and wiggling her fingers. 

“I gotta say, it’s a much nicer view from here,” he joked. “I much prefer looking at you and seeing your real face and not this ugly mug.” He pointed with his thumb at his own face.

April frowned. “I like your mug. And it’s not ugly.” Her face cleared and she stepped back closer to him. He tensed. She was clearly gearing up to say something, but what? Maybe she’d want a break from action, time to recover after all this. He could hardly blame her if she did.   


“Actually, I wanted to ask you something, now that we’re back to normal,” she said. “And, uh, maybe this is weird timing, but I’ve been thinking. Would you maybe want to go out sometime? Or stay in, I guess? With me? Alone?”

_What?_ He blinked. Maybe he should check her head. “Huh?” was all he was able to say.

She smiled nervously. “I was just thinking. This past week, we’ve, well, we’ve kinda ventured into new territory. Some things were said…”

“Some things were seen,” he couldn’t help but insert and she chuckled softly.

“Yeah, some things were _definitely_ seen. And I don’t know about you but it almost doesn’t feel right to go back to just being friends. I feel like this experience brought us closer than that. I, we shared things together that were pretty intimate. Things that I didn’t think I’d be sharing with another person until I… well, until I was in a relationship.”

He nodded, understanding. They had crossed some lines and there were just some things you couldn’t unhear or unsee. Her naked body would be seared into his brain forever. So would her admitting to having thought about the two of them together. It stood to reason she felt the same way. 

She continued, “So, do you want to just, I don’t know. Just keep moving forward? Together?”

Holy... this was it. This was somehow happening. His heart was pounding and his palms get clammy. He nodded again, then finally found his voice. “Yeah,” he croaked out. “I’d like that a lot.”

She grinned. “In that case, would you maybe want to…” she drifted off as she moved closer to him until she was less than an inch away. Her face rose and he caught on to what she was doing about a second before it happened. He had just enough time to dip his head and close his eyes before their lips met.

His brain felt like it was exploding. I’m kissing April. I’m _kissing_ April. I’m. Kissing. April! He sighed happily as he moved his lips against hers and wrapped his arms around her. He felt her arms encircle his neck and he squeezed her tighter to him before straightening up with her in his arms, causing her legs to dangle beneath her as her feet left the floor. 

She pulled away for a moment, giggling, then dived back in. He felt her open her mouth and deepen the kiss before feeling her tongue gliding against his own. He kissed her back, slowly and deeply. He could still hardly believe it. When she pulled away again, it took him a second to come back to earth and open his eyes.

“Holy…” he sighed. He put her down and she leaned forward against him. 

“Yeah,” April hummed against his plastron. 

A noise outside the lab made them break apart, neither apparently wanting to be walked in on before they could formulate a plan on how to break the news to the rest of the gang. 

“Hmmph. Now I can really say it’s good to be back,” Donnie chuckled, still riding a high. April had kissed him! And they were together. This. This was perhaps the greatest day of his life. And if not the greatest, then certainly in the top three. 

“Yeah,” April agreed, then cocked her head. “Do you think you’ll miss anything? I mean about having my body.”

Donnie thought for a moment. It would be easy to say her small, nimble hands, which he honestly _would_ miss. But this was also his first opportunity as April’s boyfriend—her boyfriend! his mind screamed—to get a little mushy. 

“I’ll miss seeing your reflection in things,” he said slowly. “Seeing your face in my computer screen before it turns on. In my spoon. Stuff like that. It was like having you around all the time.” This was also true, and it sounded more romantic to him than talking about how good her hands were for working on machinery.

April looked up at him, her face breaking into a soft smile. “Donnieee,” she murmured happily before kissing him again. He leaned down into the kiss and nipped at April’s lip. Was he killing this boyfriend thing? Maybe? 

He let his hands slide down her arms until he was encasing her hands in his own, giving them a squeeze before they broke apart again. 

“What about you?” he asked. “What’ll you miss?” 

April smiled goofily. “Being tall?” 

They both laughed. This felt so natural. Being with April shouldn’t be this easy, right? He felt like the other shoe still had to drop. 

“Actually, it’ll probably be your hands,” she was speaking again. 

He raised a brow. He couldn’t say he loved his giant, mutated three-fingered hands. They often made things more difficult than easy. 

“It’s hard to put into words, but I just really liked looking at them. Feeling them. Actually,” she continued, and lowered her voice. “Your hands led me down the road to some, uh, impure thoughts, let’s just say.” She wiggled her eyebrows. 

Yeah, where was that other shoe again? “Oh?” he smiled weakly. “Like what?” 

She shrugged noncommittally. “Just, what they might feel like… on different parts of me. Stuff like that.” You know what? Screw the other shoe. 

“But I also just liked having them because they made me feel like you were there with me too,” she continued. “So I’ll miss them. Buuut, I suppose having those hands belong to my boyfriend is just as good. Maybe better, in fact,” she teased.

“Well, uh, if there’s ever anything you want these hands to do—and I do mean anything, heh,” he laughed nervously and blushed as his head filled with images of him touching her in all the places she’d banned him from touching when they’d been switched. “All you gotta do is ask.”

“Oh believe me, I will,” she grinned and took a step closer to him. “In fact, why don’t we start right now? How about you use those hands to go lock the lab door?”

He let out a choking sound as his brain went haywire for a moment. “L-lock? Y-you mean…? Right now?” Was she seriously telling him…? 

April looked down, her cheeks turning slightly pink. “I mean, I don’t think I’m ready for, you know, the whole kit and caboodle. Someday, definitely.” She looked back up at him and smiled. _Oh holy mother of Marie Curie_. “But for now… yeah, I want to see what those hands can do. If you’re into it.”

He nodded frantically and rushed to the door. He’d suddenly never been happier to have giant, mutated three-fingered hands. And it turned out, April was pretty happy about them too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s the end of that! “But Wallbanger,” you might say. “Where’s the smut?”
> 
> To which I would reply, “There is none, my beautiful blueberry.” 
> 
> And then you might say, “Aww, but I really wanted some nasty good times for these two.”
> 
> To which I would reply, “Oh my delectable donut, I’ve had these two sex it up in the last few fics. Taking a break with this one. Plus, they’re both like 17 and yesss I know teenagers fuck all the time, but that doesn’t mean I want to write about it. Most of my smut involves aging these two up a tad.” 
> 
> And then we’d stare awkwardly at each other until I shrug and assure you that I’ve got some one shot smut on the way.
> 
> Thanks everyone for reading and for all the love!   
> 💜WB


End file.
